Registering Your Thesis Credits

The Honors College has a generic thesis course number that may be used by all Honors College students, regardless of their majors. This number is HNRC 483. You may enroll multiple times up to a total of six semester hours. If you are using the generic HNRC number, you should clarify in advance whether or not your department will allow you to use the credits to fulfill the requirements of your major.

You register for HNRC 483 (or your department’s own honors thesis number) by completing a “Request for Independent Study” form. Your thesis director will help you fill this out. You must attach a copy of your thesis proposal to the form. The form requires signatures from your thesis director, academic adviser, department chair, and college dean. If you are using the generic Honors College number, HNRC 483, the form also goes to the Honors College for approval by the Honors College Committee.

The Honors College Office (in the case of HNRC 483), or your dean’s office (in the case of departmental numbers), will send the “Request for Independent Study” form to the Registrar/Scheduling Office. The Registrar/Scheduling Office will add the course automatically to your schedule—you do not need to use URSA to add it yourself.

Two cautions about this automatic scheduling: (1) If the addition of your thesis will push your schedule into an overload—more than 17 s.h.—you must go to your college dean’s office and get permission. The Scheduling Office will not add the course unless you have permission for the overload. (2) If waiting for the course to be added automatically leaves your schedule temporarily with less than the minimal load required by your financial aid, call this to the attention of the Honors College. This is usually not a problem, unless you have waited until the very last minute to file for approval so that there is not enough time for the form to be processed before you encounter difficulties.

If you are using a departmental thesis number rather than HNRC 483, follow the department’s instructions. When you fill out the “Request for Independent Study” form, it is very important that you or your thesis director write “Honors College Student” plainly in the top margin so that the cost of your independent study is charged to the correct university budget line.